Together We Carry On
by bipolarweeb
Summary: "I'm okay," Saeyoung reassures, "Just a bad dream." Saeran nods. "Yeah," he says, "I get those too."


**"Saeyoung having nightmares" is definitely not an original concept for mystic messenger fics but that's not gonna stop me. **

**Follow me on tumblr at bipolarweeb!**

_Saeyoung stares at the man standing in a puddle of broken glass in the living room of the apartment._ Rika's old apartment, _a part of him notes._

_The man_—Saeran? _Saeyoung asks himself._ No, Unknown,_ he corrects_—_is standing next to a busted window with an arm tightly around your neck, making sure you can't escape from the chokehold. Your legs are flailing, trying to kick wherever you can and your nails are digging into the flesh of his arm, drawing blood._

_Unknown is whispering words to you that reach Saeyoung's ears as nothing more than a muffled voice, and Saeyoung finds he can't move to rescue you from Unknown's hold; it's as though his legs are made of lead. He tries to call out to you, but his frantic shouting doesn't make a sound._

_Saeyoung yells until he's hoarse, until an eerily serene look takes over your face, and your posture oddly relaxes. It's like you're in some kind of trance brought on by whatever Unknown is whispering in your ear. Somehow it's even more unnerving than the sight of you struggling against him._

_A soft smile overcomes Unknown's features as he looks over at Saeyoung, his mouth still close to your ear and his unnaturally green eyes claiming victory. It feels like a bucket of ice falling over him as two words make it clearly to Saeyoung's ears._

_"To Paradise?" he hears Unknown whisper to you._

_You bring a hand up to Unknown's face, fingers dripping red from where your nails had been embedded in his arm. You smear blood across his jaw as you caress his cheek. Your fingers snake into his snowy hair, staining it scarlet._

_You nod, an eerily pleasant smile on your face. "To Paradise."_

_Quicker than Saeyoung thinks possible, Unknown reaches back with the arm not restraining you, and pulls out a pistol. Saeyoung's final shout is drowned out by a loud bang, and suddenly everything turns black._

Saeyoung wakes up with a gasp, throwing the blankets back on the bed. He shoots up like a man possessed, and the cold sweat covering his skin makes him shiver.

He frantically looks around the room and feels across the bed for your warmth, but the spot next to him is cold, and you're nowhere to be seen.

"MC? MC?" he calls desperately. His breaths are getting labored and his chest feels tight. He can't breath. He curls up and braces himself with his head between his knees. It feels like he's suffocating.

You rush in, hearing him frantically call your name, to find your fiancé sitting up in the bed you share, curled in on himself with his hair fisted in his hands. His eyes are closed and tremors rack his entire body.

"Hey," you try softly, attempting to get his attention as you swiftly make your way to his side. You can hear him attempting to take deep breaths, but his panic is stopping most of the air from getting to his lungs.

You sit on the edge of the bed, hands fluttering around him in an instinctual urge to hug and comfort, but you're careful not to touch him. At least not yet. Not until he realizes he is safe.

"Saeyoung," you say softly, and break your own rule as you place your hand next to his sock-covered foot, allowing your pinkie to rest lightly on the fabric. Just a small touch. "Saeyoung, I'm right here. Everything's okay."

Saeyoung takes a shuddering breath before slowly lowering his hands from his hair. The moment he looks up at your calm face, his tense body relaxes and his tremors die down, though don't completely fade. Almost immediately he pulls you into a hug.

"Fuck," he exhales, still trying to get his breathing under control, "I'm so sorry. I forgot where I was for a second."

"It's okay," you squeeze him tight, closing your eyes. You can feel his heart pounding erratically against your own chest. "I'm here."

He sighs heavily, and it ruffles your hair. "I woke up and you were gone," he says softly. "In my dream..." he trails off, and his fingers flex against your back.

"I couldn't sleep so I went to make some tea and ended up dozing on the couch. I heard you call my name..." you pause, "Do you want to talk about it?"

You feel him shake his head before tightening his arms around you "Not right now. I'm just glad you're here."

"Always," you say, and begin to run your fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck.

After a couple of minutes you can no longer feel his heart pounding against his rib cage, and his breathing has more or less returned to normal. You can feel only his hands trembling against your back. He pulls back a bit to look in your eyes.

He's about to say something when another boy walks groggily into the room, red hair tangled up in a mess of bedhead.

"Everyone okay?" Saeran asks with heavy-lidded eyes, looking between you and Saeyoung. "I thought I heard yelling or something."

For a just a second you can feel Saeyoung tense and hear him draw in a quick breath, but after a moment he relaxes with a heavy sigh.

You lean in close to him, your forehead pressing against his hair as you whisper "It's okay," close to his ear. The implied Saeran, not Unknown goes unsaid.

Saeyoung nods minutely.

"Well?" Saeran interrupts, rubbing at his eyes like a sleepy, disgruntled child. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Saeyoung says, looking down at you and then back at his brother with a small, reassuring smile. "Just a bad dream."

Saeran nods, sobering just a little. "Yeah," he says, "I get those too."

You and Saeyoung both nod, and a moment of solidarity passes between the three of you, but after a brief silence, you realize it's not going to be discussed any further. Probably for the best for tonight.

Instead, Saeyoung grins and raises one of his arms from around you, gesturing to Saeran. "You wanna make this a group hug, little brother?"

Saeran lets out a hmph sound before rolling his eyes as well as he can with them half-closed from sleepiness. He mutters a good night to both of you before trudging his way out of the bedroom.

"Really though," you say after Saeran is gone, catching your fiancé's attention and looking into his eyes. You place a hand on his cheek. "You're okay?"

Saeyoung nods, pulling you into another hug and pressing a kiss to your cheek. "Yeah. It's just going to take time."

You nod before releasing him and making your way to your side of the bed. You prop yourself on some pillows so you're sitting up against them. You look at Saeyoung and pat your lap.

He smiles softly at your invitation before laying down in the bed and propping his head on your thighs, curling the rest of his body around you as well as he can. After a moment, you sweep his hair off his forehead and press a kiss there. He scrunches his face in mock-disgust, and as soon as he relaxes, you begin carding your fingers through his hair. He soon gets lost in the rhythmic pulling.

Saeyoung lets out a content sigh and closes his eyes. He finds its different, being able to soothe himself to sleep thinking of the family he can finally say he has; of the family he promises he'll never lose again.

But it's a good different.

**Hope yall enjoyed! Make sure to drop me a comment!**


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